Man in Malaysia argues with PHV driver over fare, slaps his wife after she tries to intervene

A private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver was left gobsmacked when the passenger suddenly slapped his own wife after she tried to de-escalate a disagreement over the fare.

Clips of the incident were shared on Threads on Wednesday (27 May). It has since garnered over 800 comments, with most expressing outrage at the man.

Man slaps his wife while holding their baby

In the clip, the driver and the male passenger can be seen discussing the fare. The passenger handed him a RM50 (S$16) bank note to pay for the RM7 (S$2.25) trip.

However, when the driver said he did not have change for the larger bank note, an argument ensued.

The driver said his customers usually hand over smaller denominations, while the passenger argued that it was the former’s responsibility to have change prepared.

Eventually, the passenger said he did not want to pay the fare if this was the case. The driver then said it was okay not to pay. However, he would then be lodging a complaint.

This escalated the argument, with the man raising his voice at several points, scaring the baby he was holding. When his wife tried to de-escalate the situation, the man slapped her and shoved his hand in her face several times.

Reporting incident

After the slap, the driver raised his own voice before demanding the man exit the vehicle. All three individuals left the vehicle and continued their heated argument on the street briefly before the driver returned to his vehicle.

In his post, the driver said he then reported the incident to Grab. The passenger allegedly continued to harass him through the app.

“This is the first time I’ve encountered a customer like this,” he wrote.

MS News has reached out to Grab Malaysia for comments.

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